POLAR ICE

POLAR ICE

Few topic seem to provoke much thought and debate such as climate change and global warming and the question that often comes in mind is whether this is a natural phenomenon is a man made one. There is sufficient evidence to show that man made efforts and activities such emission of greenhouse gases and carbon dioxide is the greatest contributor to rise in global temperatures. The data displayed shows that the ice sheet is not in balance that is because the calving loss exceeds the gain from the surface mass balance. Data shows that more ice is melting and more glacier heads are receding year after year.in a nutshell it means that Greenland is losing more ice than it is gaining.

Climate change is real and with the rising global temperature, melting of se ice and glaciers and a marked rise in sea levels in the north and South Pole is a clear evidence that corroborates this assertion especially in areas around the Polar Regions. The impact here has been most visible and significant. The thawing of the permafrost in the last few years has contributed to the emission of gases and this has made life very difficult for many species.

The climatic changes in the Poles are more serious than we are told. The sharp decline in sea ice and ice selves tends to attract more headlines but the impact is great than that. Permafrost which makes up the surface of the arctic and supports much of the infrastructure such as roads and pipelines but with the rise in temperatures this infrastructure becomes unstable (Turner & Marshall, 2011). Besides, with the thawing of the permafrost greenhouse gases such as methane and carbon that have locked underground are released into the atmosphere leading to further warming and unless this checked it can lead to a tipping point.

Reference

Turner, J., & Marshall, G. (2011). Climate change in the polar regions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.